Exploring Zenobia's World. The Incredible Rise and Fall of the City of Palmyra

01 September 2008

Zeus Rains on Pagan Protest (Updated)

LATEST UPDATE (20 April 2017):

GREEK STATE RECOGNIZES PAGANISM AS RELIGION

Greek
Pagans are granted legal status as polytheism is officially a religion
in Greece, according to the Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes (YSEE).
YSEE is a religious organization claiming they work to restore the
indigenous religion of Hellas. The organization put out a statement
saying that Greek polytheism has received legal status in Greece.
Until now, Greek Pagans did not enjoy religious freedoms such as the
right to buy land in order to build houses of worship nor could Pagan
priests perform marriage ceremonies.
Now the Greek State, through a decision of the Greek Ministry of
Education, Research and Religious Affairs, recognizes the Hellenic
Religion as a “Known Religion,” according to paragraph 17, the only form
of recognition for a religion in Greece. The paragraph includes the
permission to build a temple as well as the right of public liturgies of
any recognized religion.
- See more at: http://greece.greekreporter.com/2017/04/20/greek-state-recognizes-paganism-as-religion/#sthash.xcJpICgt.dpuf

Greek Pagans are granted legal status as polytheism is officially a religion in Greece.

Until now, Greek Pagans did not enjoy religious freedoms such as the right to buy land in order to build houses of worship nor could Pagan priests perform marriage ceremonies.

Now the Greek State, through a decision of the Greek Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs, recognizes the Hellenic Religion as a “Known Religion,” according to paragraph 17, the only form of recognition for a religion in Greece. The paragraph includes the permission to build a temple as well as the right of public liturgies of any recognized religion.

Greek
Pagans are granted legal status as polytheism is officially a religion
in Greece, according to the Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes (YSEE).
YSEE is a religious organization claiming they work to restore the
indigenous religion of Hellas. The organization put out a statement
saying that Greek polytheism has received legal status in Greece.
Until now, Greek Pagans did not enjoy religious freedoms such as the
right to buy land in order to build houses of worship nor could Pagan
priests perform marriage ceremonies.
Now the Greek State, through a decision of the Greek Ministry of
Education, Research and Religious Affairs, recognizes the Hellenic
Religion as a “Known Religion,” according to paragraph 17, the only form
of recognition for a religion in Greece. The paragraph includes the
permission to build a temple as well as the right of public liturgies of
any recognized religion.
- See more at: http://greece.greekreporter.com/2017/04/20/greek-state-recognizes-paganism-as-religion/#sthash.xcJpICgt.dpuf

Greek
Pagans are granted legal status as polytheism is officially a religion
in Greece, according to the Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes (YSEE).
YSEE is a religious organization claiming they work to restore the
indigenous religion of Hellas. The organization put out a statement
saying that Greek polytheism has received legal status in Greece.
Until now, Greek Pagans did not enjoy religious freedoms such as the
right to buy land in order to build houses of worship nor could Pagan
priests perform marriage ceremonies.
Now the Greek State, through a decision of the Greek Ministry of
Education, Research and Religious Affairs, recognizes the Hellenic
Religion as a “Known Religion,” according to paragraph 17, the only form
of recognition for a religion in Greece. The paragraph includes the
permission to build a temple as well as the right of public liturgies of
any recognized religion.
- See more at: http://greece.greekreporter.com/2017/04/20/greek-state-recognizes-paganism-as-religion/#sthash.xcJpICgt.dpuf

Greek
Pagans are granted legal status as polytheism is officially a religion
in Greece, according to the Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes (YSEE).
YSEE is a religious organization claiming they work to restore the
indigenous religion of Hellas. The organization put out a statement
saying that Greek polytheism has received legal status in Greece.
Until now, Greek Pagans did not enjoy religious freedoms such as the
right to buy land in order to build houses of worship nor could Pagan
priests perform marriage ceremonies.
Now the Greek State, through a decision of the Greek Ministry of
Education, Research and Religious Affairs, recognizes the Hellenic
Religion as a “Known Religion,” according to paragraph 17, the only form
of recognition for a religion in Greece. The paragraph includes the
permission to build a temple as well as the right of public liturgies of
any recognized religion.
- See more at: http://greece.greekreporter.com/2017/04/20/greek-state-recognizes-paganism-as-religion/#sthash.xcJpICgt.dpuf

Greek
Pagans are granted legal status as polytheism is officially a religion
in Greece, according to the Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes (YSEE).
YSEE is a religious organization claiming they work to restore the
indigenous religion of Hellas. The organization put out a statement
saying that Greek polytheism has received legal status in Greece.
- See more at: http://greece.greekreporter.com/2017/04/20/greek-state-recognizes-paganism-as-religion/#sthash.xcJpICgt.dpuf

Greek
Pagans are granted legal status as polytheism is officially a religion
in Greece, according to the Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes (YSEE).
YSEE is a religious organization claiming they work to restore the
indigenous religion of Hellas. The organization put out a statement
saying that Greek polytheism has received legal status in Greece.
- See more at: http://greece.greekreporter.com/2017/04/20/greek-state-recognizes-paganism-as-religion/#sthash.xcJpICgt.dpuf

'Just as Zeus sends rain so as to grow the crops', (Aristotle, Phys. 2.8 198b), the ancient gods sent a much-needed downpour to Athens yesterday. That's the high priestess of the Olympians, Doretta Peppa (below) raising a fist perhaps in response to this mark of divine favour.

“This was the first [pagan] prayer ceremony on the Acropolis since the Parthenon was converted into a church,” [in the 5th C AD] Peppa said. "Is it a coincidence that rain started falling when the ceremony started and ended at the same time as the ceremony? I think not."

Pagans Pray at Parthenon

Thrusting their arms skywards and chanting Orphic hymns, about 200 Greek pagans made a comeback at the Acropolis yesterday. The Guardian reports

After a break of 16 centuries, Greek pagans are worshipping the ancient gods again - despite furious opposition from the Orthodox church.

Yesterday's ceremony represented a major coup for Greek polytheists whose faith, which is described by the powerful Orthodox church as a "miserable resuscitation of a degenerate dead religion", has long been banned in the country that gave birth to the gods of Mount Olympus.

This is the second public prayer meeting of the Greek pagans (who call themselves Ellenais*) in a little more than a year. I've been following the movement since last January (The Gods Revived, Pagan Revival II, More on the Pagan Revival) when they first appeared among the giant Corinthian columns of the Sanctuary of Olympian Zeus in Athens to pray for world peace (and for rain as well!). Since then, Greek Orthodox priests have redirected the venom they usually reserve for homosexuals, Catholics, Jews, Jehovah's Witnesses, masons and the barbaric Turks at these "satanic" New Ageists and fulminated against their idols.

Peppa said officials have also harassed believers in the Olympian gods. Despite this, the pagan revivalists recently won a court battle for state recognition of the ancient religion. Now, flexing their muscles, the devotees gathered yesterday at Greece's most sacred site on the Acropolis. Although the Culture Ministry forbids ceremonies of any sort at archaeological sites, the small band entered the Acropolis’s heavily guarded grounds as tourists and then persuaded guards to allow the 20-minute rite. Before the east wing of the Parthenon, they prayed to Athena, goddess of wisdom and patron of Athens:

“Oh, goddess,” high priestess Peppa said over an offering of water and olive oil, “we are ready to defend your grounds.”

Last year, the government moved hundreds of sculptures from a tiny museum on the Acropolis to a Euro 129 million (US$190 m; £94m) new museum below the citadel. The building is where Greece hopes one day to display the Elgin Marbles alongside the other Parthenon sculptures. Greek officials have said the new museum will open next month, displaying some 4,000 artifacts.

"Neither the Romans nor the Ottomans or any other occupational force ever took anything from this holy site," said Yannis Kontopidis, one of the high priests who officiated over the affair. "It's scandalous that antiquities of such value, carved in honour of Athena, should be wrested from their natural environment and moved to a new locale."

The glass and concrete edifice, designed by the Swiss-American architect Bernard Tschumi in collaboration with Greece's Michalis Photiadis, has divided Greeks.

Supporters praise its cavernous space and have claimed the building will offer better protection of the antiquities and a superior viewing space for spectators, who previously had to negotiate the confines of a tiny museum atop the hill.

However, opponents, including architectural purists, have argued that the new museum is in the wrong location and far too big in grandeur and scale.

Ellenais described the new glass and concrete structure as "an incredible architectural monstrosity that insults [Greece's] cultural heritage," and thus he adds the strength of the polytheists to protests against the imminent inauguration of the new Museum.

Perhaps the nationality, too, of the architect sticks in the craw of worshippers of ancient Greek gods.
Although he himself is denounced by the state church, high-priest Kontopidis declares, "Moving these sculptures to a museum that is foreign and hostile to the Greek environment is like breaking up a family.''

And high-priestess Peppa frets, "We believe that the structural elements of a temple should not be moved and we worry about the consequences."

What, I wondered, could those consequences possibly be?

The Delphic Oracle

Being a Classical Archaeologist, I immediately consulted the Delphic Oracle.

I asked: Has the fated time of Athens' destruction come upon it?

And the goodly Pythia responded: They should not be too much troubled in spirit; a wineskin floats on the sea.**

You can't say fairer than that!

* an acronym in Greek for "Sacred Society of Greek Ancient Religionists".

Photographs of the New Acropolis Museum from its website: above, Looking at the Acropolis with the cranes removing sculptures and pieces of temples through the glass walls of the Parthenon Gallery; middle, Architect's Conception of the Museum floating on a pilotis over the archaeological excavations; below, Architect's conception of the future Archaic Gallery.

Updated 28 September 2008 : I should have guessed that even a society dedicated to reviving the ancient religion would have a website ... and so it does: DODECATHEON (with information in Greek, English, French, and German). Interesting features on the Society, Hellenic religion, its journal Pantheon (in Greek only) and Greek rites -- including useful tips on how to have an Hellenic Wedding: it seems necessary to veil the bride and have a handy temple on the hill behind, which may make it hard to replicate in the diaspora.

Thanks for alerting me to the replica Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee. I had no idea there was such a thing. Obviously this makes it easier for USA neo-pagans who wish to marry in view of a Greek temple.

I have a persistent memory from my childhood ('70s-'80s) of reading about a temporary Parthenon made of corn or corn cobs, but I simply cannot find an online reference to one.

I did find the following at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_%28architecture%29:

"When Benjamin Latrobe redesigned the Senate Vestibule in the United States Capitol in 1807, he introduced six columns that he 'Americanized' with ears of corn (maize) substituting for the European acanthus leaves."

Maybe my memory mixed up the Parthenon with these capitals, but why is my memory of reading about it so vivid? Hm. Maybe I'm hungry or something.

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About Me

I studied Classical Archaeology at the University of Oxford (M.Litt.) and am a member of the British School at Athens. I excavated for many years on Crete and on the Greek mainland and travelled extensively in the Middle East. I have lived and worked among the ruins of the three great Caravan Cities: Petra, Palmyra, and Baalbek. It was at Palmyra in Syria that I began to tell the story of Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, and the rebellion that she led against imperial Rome. I was living within the grounds of the Temple of Bel, and at night, when the great gates of the temple were shut, I came closer to the spirit of the time and place than probably anyone has ever done before. I know that I felt very close to Zenobia, which made the book a joy for me to write.

IS THIS ZENOBIA'S REAL PORTRAIT?

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These are five blogs I enjoy reading the most, and without which life would be less interesting for me: David Meadows' Rogue Classicism is my number one go-to blog.... My second choice is Judith Weingarten's Zenobia - she covers strong ancient women, not just Zenobia, and since these warrior women are the subject of my next book, I love her lengthy well-researched posts. PHDiva"Judith Weingarten, author of The Chronicle of Zenobia: The Rebel Queen writes about gods, kings, war and chivalry here. Written with pace and verve it is a fantastic and exciting analysis."Mike @ Official Osprey Publishing Blog

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